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SAN DIEGO - On Monday, two male California condors received a big welcome from Mexico after traveling more than 1,800 miles (2,917 kilometers) from the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park to their new home at the Chapultepec Zoo late last week.

The Dirección General de Zoológicos y Vida Silvestre, which operates the Chapultepec Zoo "Alfonso L. Herrera," became the newest member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) 27-year-old California Condor Recovery Program as U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza presented the condors to Mexico City Mayor Mare Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon.

"The Chapultepec Zoo's participation will greatly increase the public's awareness of California condor conservation efforts in Mexico," said Steve Thompson, USFWS California and Nevada operations manager. "This program is an example of a truly successful binational partnership, and we welcome the Chapultepec Zoo to the California Condor Recovery Program."

Although Mexico has been a partner in the recovery program since 2002 when the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir condor release site in Baja California, Mexico became operational, this is the first documented California condor in any of Mexico's zoos. The Chapultepec Zoo has, however, worked diligently with Andean condors, the larger South American cousin of the California species, for many years.

"The arrival of the California condors to the Chapultepec Zoo represents a great responsibility and at the same time a great opportunity to present (to more than 5 million visitors a year) this species that once became extinct in the wild," said Fernando Gual Sill, M.V.Z. M.Sc., Direccián General de Zoolágicos y Vida Silvestre de la Ciudad de Mexico general director. "Thanks to the efforts of the United States and Mexico, this species was kept alive in zoos for a future reintroduction to its native habitat in both countries."

The San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park sent two condors: one male hatched at the Wild Animal Park in 1993 and a second male hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo in 1996. The initial plan is for the birds to act as conservation education emissaries as visitors to the Chapultepec Zoo observe the birds for the first time. In the future, the Chapultepec Zoo may also become a breeding facility. Currently there are four facilities breeding California condors, including the Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles and Oregon zoos and The Peregrine Fund's Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.

"Sending California condors to the Chapultepec Zoo is another collaborative step between the United States and Mexico in our attempts to insure the survivorship of a critically endangered species," said Michael Mace, San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park curator of birds. "The next phase includes working together to assist the Chapultepec Zoo staff in developing a breeding center and cross-training staff with the hope of raising condors at the zoo for future release in Baja California."

The California Condor Recovery Program is built upon a foundation of private and public partnerships. The recovery program is implemented by USFWS in cooperation with the Zoological Society of San Diego, Los Angeles Zoo, The Peregrine Fund, Oregon Zoo, Mexican partners including the Instituto Nacional de Ecología and the Comisián Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas and the Centro de Investigacián Científica y de Educacián Superior de Ensenada, and now the Direccián General de Zoolágicos y Vida Silvestre, among others.

Approximately 138 condors are flying free in the skies above parts of California, Arizona and in Baja California, Mexico. There are more than 148 condors at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, The Peregrine Fund and Oregon Zoo.